Losing my The Stand virginity!

[JayneH]

I just get so irritated when some people cringe or make faces when I mention that I am an avid SK fan.

you get used to it .... people just dont realise that he isnt "just a horror writer" I still love shocking people with things like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile .... classic movies that people REFUSE to believe could be Stephen King !!!! usually it is enough to wipe those looks off their faces ....

[GNTLGNT]

Close the doors-lock the windows and read, read, read, read!!!!! It's my fave King world and the characters are some of his best in my humble opinion. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I have over the years. And may I suggest you try Marvel Comics graphic novel version which is endorsed by Sai King-I was leery at first but Wow is it killer!

Long Days and Pleasant Nights!

The Giant

[random person]

I'm on my first run to it's great, i'm only on chapter 20 and have already cried, especially when i don't know if your far enough ahead but i cried when larry's mother died.

[ItFan]

Since this thread has had a little resurrection I might as well join in, as I too am losing my The Stand virginity! I'm about 12 chapters in but I'm loving it so far, especially the character of Nick. Planning on reading a lot more tomorrow as I have a three and a half hour train journey to endure!

[ShootersCorn]

Ha! I am an avid King reader, as some may know, but I am now on page 257 of my first Stand run through. Thus far, it is really magnificent and I can just smell how epic it is going to be. I am really loving these characters. Fran, Larry, and Nick especially. Can't wait to follow them on their journey!

I don't want to come upon any major spoilers so I made this thread for me and any other first time readers who want to squeak about how great this book is. I think this one could be a definate challenger to IT in my number one SK spot.

Feel free to gloat about how many times you have already read The Stand, but I'm sure that the first time is the most memorable.

I've read it once, almost thirty years ago to the day, in fact. I don't read books more than once because once is good for me.

Thirty years ago I was one day away from being 17 years old. I'd just come home from school because the night before I'd been grounded, for staying out too late with my friends. That meant come straight home (if you knew what was good for you), no friends over, no going to a friend's house, no phone and the only cable channels in town back then were TBS, WGN and HBO. Yeah, I could flip those on if I wanted to see the same stuff that was on our local channels as afternoon filler or a rerun of a football game. Pass.

My mom was and still is, a big reader. She had a whole bookcase of mystery novels like Agatha Christie that I'd already read, along with biographies of this or that whosit a teenage girl doesn't find very interesting. And I was busy being pissed about not being able to go out with my boyfriend for my birthday the next night, so I really wasn't interested in dusting off anything I already felt was uninteresting.

I'd seen The Stand on the bottom shelf of the bookcase every day, as I passed it in the hall. But the cover didn't really grab me. So I just kept passing it by in favor of other books or doing sparkly things that interest the usual teenage girl. Or loud things. Like blasting cassette tapes or records while 'talking' on the phone about how cool the band du jour was. Don't get me wrong, I come from smart people but let's face it, kids do dumb stuff like that and think it's so important when they're doing it. Guilty.

So I was grounded again, dammit. Nothing to do, nothing on, just blah and staring at the bookcase. Then I sat down on the floor in front of it. Looked at my mom's hardcover copy of The Stand thinking, 'what is this thing about anyway?' and pulled it off the shelf to see. I read the inside back cover of it, then the inside front cover of it. Hmm, this might be something after all, my teenaged brain thought. End of the world sounds about right to me now too.

I started reading The Stand at 4:00 pm and didn't realize how long I'd been sitting there until my mom came home from the office. She always came in at 6:30 on_the_dot. She could see me from the front door and when she did said, 'Reading? I should ground you more often.' Funny now but I thought back then, 'Oh just rub it in why don't you?' Later on she asked me how I liked the book and I told her I didn't know because it was different. She said, 'You were reading a book for two and a half hours and don't know if you like it.' Ofcourse I liked it, even though it was different but I'd been grounded all day and didn't want to sound like anything productive actually had come of it. And reading of your own free as a teenage girl was far from cool back then. Going to the lake, sneaking beers at parties with your friends, having a boyfriend, cool clothes hair and make-up. That was cool back then. Reading? Just tape some glasses together and call it day for your social life, why don't you?

The next day for my birthday, I naturally picked up where I'd left off in the book, as I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. Well, technically I did but again I was raised by smart people and at least a smidge of it had rubbed off on me, so I didn't. Again my mom came home, I was sitting in the same spot, reading The Stand, then we had my favorite birthday dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Every day after school I'd come home, do my chores, grab something to eat and read The Stand until my mom came home. My friends asked me to come over after school or go places and I'd give them excuses. My boyfriend, same thing. That really should've clued me in that he wasn't going to be Mr. Right huh? I had to lie to him to read a book. Don't get me started.

I finally finished The Stand a couple of weeks later - I'm a slow reader, what my mom calls an absorber. She says I remember stuff from books that other people don't. Ok, I'll take her word for it. - It's still my favorite Stephen King book of all time and I've read 'em all. Every single one. Thanks Steve. And thanks for reading all that, to anyone who does.

[TPG555]

Great post, ShootersCorn. Are you planning on reading the updated and unabridged version?

[ShootersCorn]

Great post, ShootersCorn. Are you planning on reading the updated and unabridged version?

Thanks

Nope. What I read way back then is good enough.

[dharmageek]

Beautiful post ShootersCorn! a small nitpick though:

And reading of your own free as a teenage girl was far from cool back then. Going to the lake, sneaking beers at parties with your friends, having a boyfriend, cool clothes hair and make-up. That was cool back then. Reading? Just tape some glasses together and call it day for your social life, why don't you?

Don't say "back then" like every teenager reads nowadays I'm 19 now and pretty much everybody I knew always looked at me weird when they found out I read. "You read? And... of your own free will? Not something for the school? ...why?" I live in Argentina, not the States though.